Lotte Kopecky’s general classification hopes at the Giro d’Italia Women evaporated on stage 4 as she lost more than 19 minutes on the summit finish to Pianezze – a performance her team attributes to lower back pain, just over two weeks before the start of the Tour de France Femmes.
The Belgian world champion was already off the pace on the uphill finish to Aprica earlier in the race, dropping two minutes. At the time, SD Worx-Protime played it down as a one-off. But her significant time loss on the 11.2km climb to Valdobbiadene has confirmed a physical issue is behind her difficulties.
“Lotte has back pain and that’s why things aren’t working on the climbs like they should,” said SD Worx-Protime sports director Danny Stam. “In that situation, it didn’t make sense to ride the final climb flat out. Lotte chose to ride up calmly, and that’s why she finished so far behind.”, who spoke with HLN.
Kopecky, who is targeting the Tour de France Femmes as her major goal this summer, had remained quiet about the issue, just as she had done with a knee problem earlier in the year. After crossing the line visibly deflated in Pianezze, it became clear there was more going on.
Stam confirmed the team had known about the issue but are doing everything they can to treat it during the race.
“Lower back pain is a known problem in cycling – even Mathieu van der Poel has dealt with it in the past,” he said. “It’s also not an easy thing to treat. But it’s not the kind of problem that means she has to stop riding.”
Photo Credit: GettyNo early exit planned
With flat stages still to come, Kopecky is expected to remain in the race rather than abandon early. The team is wary of missing out on racing intensity this close to the Tour.
“If she were to abandon now, she’d also miss the race rhythm,” Stam said. “We’re trying to treat her back as best we can, and as long as the issue doesn’t get worse, we see no reason for her to stop.”
“Of course this isn’t what we hoped for when we came to the Giro,” he added. “But panicking or drawing conclusions about the Tour now won’t help. We know what kind of work we’ve done and what a fit Lotte can do. We trust in the process and stay positive.”
According to Stam, Kopecky remains upbeat despite the setback. “We came to the Giro to build morale for the Tour, so no, this isn’t ideal. But Lotte is still in a good mood, she’s still relaxed, and we’ll do everything we can to keep it that way if needed.”
